Singer/Songwriter
Origin: Venice, California
Not to get confused with Cameron Avery of Tame Impala, although Tame Impala is one of his inspirations! Cam Avery is a singer/songwriter from Venice, California and we were able to discuss his new single "Trouble" and more. Therefore, check out a snippet of the interview on our IGTV / Youtube. Don't forget to listen to his new single (links below).
First and foremost, introduce yourself to everybody. What do you do?
Well, I'm Cam Avery. I've been making music since I was 10 years old and playing guitar before then. I picked it up when I was eight or so. I was in a band for a really long time. I was in this band for probably six years doing shows all throughout Hollywood. I was working with a few different producers for a minute. But I just started releasing my solo music this year a little before 2020. Now I'm just focusing on getting more singles out for the rest of the year and hopefully, I can release my first project by 2021. I don't know if that means an EP or an album, but it's definitely gonna be six or seven songs. As soon as corona is done, I'm going be out there performing. I'm trying to figure out a new band right now to play under Cam Avery instead of playing for a band but besides that, I have been in quarantine for the past two and a half months. I have so much new music right now on my computer. I'm waiting for the world to go back to normal so I can actually come back out and do my shit again because being on stage is the best thing. Best thing on Earth to me.
Let's talk about the creative process of your new song, "Trouble":
I made "Trouble" about two-three months ago around the beginning of corona. That's when I started writing. When I make my songs, I always start either on the guitar or the bass. I always start with some sort of chord or melody singing to myself in my head. When it comes to writing music, I always start with some sort of bassline. I like to make my music focusing around the hook. I feel like the chorus is always the most catchy part, the part that people remember the most. And when it came to "Trouble", I was like, 'oh, my God, this is such a good hook'. I would say the biggest meaning that came out of the song when I was writing it was dealing with a lot of stupidity that I put myself through just growing up. Stupid teenage shit. Trouble through school relationships, relationships with my family, all those types of shit. Trouble is, honestly, is myself going over my problems with my vices and problems with my girlfriend that I've had in the past and other girlfriends in the past. I was working on a lot of songs and my manager, Barry, was like 'Cam we need to pick a single.' I was working on probably like five or six songs. We're getting all of them recorded and we were like 'we got to release something that's more upbeat happy because I make a lot of music that's sad. But "Trouble" is the one song where we're like this is an upbeat, happy, and motivational song. I have three other songs on Spotify that I personally produced, mixed, and mastered. I wasn't working on any of those songs in the studio. "Trouble" is the first legitimate song that I've actually put out and mixed and mastered professionally. That was a really big thing for me. It's doing good. It's at almost 700 streams.
I'm super proud of that, especially during this time too. We need that uplifting spirit.
The first line in the hook is: "my selfishness gets me in trouble, it's hard to forget that I'm not supposed to be like that. It's hard enough witnessing what I've done. I'd light a cigarette pushing back to smoke my thoughts." And to me, that really just means like 'Get over your bullshit and get over the stupid problems that you always have an excuse for stopping for everything. Absolutely everything. I want people to take something from it and that's with all my music. I always try to leave some sort of underlying message. I hope people take and learn to get rid of some of the bullshit trouble that they have in their life.
I want to also talk about the other singles that you have, "this thing X lie down" because I thought they were interesting, especially with "Lie Down" how it has a slowly progressing beat.
"lie down" was a song that I made really quick. I honestly put that song together in probably five days or so. Honestly, one day, I definitely want to reproduce "lie down" and make it more professional only because I feel like the songs have a lot of potentials. I wasn't able to reach that potential with just me in my room in my crappy mic. It's funny because "this thing" and "lie down" counteract each other. They're opposites. "lie down" was more of a bedroom beat, really light, and fluffy song. And then "this thing" is more alternative, little grungy, and it's like a Red Hot Chili Pepper song. "lie down" is all about just lying down with my fucking girlfriend and just being in a different world. Not in this world. When you're with that person and you're lying down on your bed, it's like ecstasy almost. There's nothing better than this. Lying down with the person that I want to be with for a long time. I've been with this girl for a minute now. And that song is pretty much all about her. A lot of my music is about her, my dad, my mom, a lot of family drama. Family drama is the best thing for me to write about because everyone has family drama. Literally some of the biggest songs of all time are about fucking relationships and how people deal with them and get out of them and get into them. "lie down" is about me and my girlfriend having the time of our lives on my bed.
Big shout outs to her!
She definitely inspires a lot. She's my biggest muse right now because we have a really healthy and crazy relationship. I feel like a lot of people do that. People got mixed emotions all the time. And now, I feel like writing when I'm really happy in my relationship with her is when the best music comes out of me and then writing when we're going through stupid bullshit. That's what makes the best music comes out. "lie down" is all about happiness. And then "this thing" is about this thing inside me. I feel like crawling around. It's like this monster inside me. They counteract each other.
Any inspiration from artists you're currently listening to right now or in general?
Some really big artists I've been listening to recently are Dominic Fike. I feel like I make a really similar sound to him sometimes. And I've been studying him so much only because he's been blowing up so much recently. You listen to one of his songs and it's drums, bass, guitar, and singing and that's literally what I do. When I first heard that song "Three Nights," at the moment, I was like, 'holy shit.' It was like my long-lost cousin or something. Tame Impala has really been influencing my funkiness. Before I started making music, I was purely into alternative rock and even heavy rock with my band. I was not making the kind of music I'm making right now. I would say my music's more like an alternative funky like Beach L.A. vibe kind of sound that I'm coming out with. So, Tame Impala has definitely helped with the funkiness. It's funny because I don't really even listen to a lot of music when I get hooked on an artist. I study them and I've been studying Dominic and Tame Impala for a minute. Also, UMI, She is so sick. It's actually cool, too, because my cousin is in this rap group called "Your Grandparents". They came from Culver City, LA and they have a song featuring her. They're really dope. And after I heard that, I checked out all of her shit. She makes beautiful music. She always has a really deep underlying message with all of her music, too. I love that sound. And I'm like a solo artist now. I'm definitely going to want to try as many different genres as possible. I feel like I'll definitely reach a point where I'm doing like bedroom more, relaxing synth sounds, chill R&B drum-type percussion shit. But right now, I'm just sticking to my basics drum and the bass guitar. Rex Orange County, that's another one. And I have a lot of music coming out that that really gives off a big Rex Orange County vibe. I've been playing a lot with pianos more. And I've been trying to hone in on to the Rex Orange County vibe. I never want to copy anyone and I definitely like my voice. Everyone's voice is unique in their own way, obviously, but recently, ever since the band broke up like two years ago, I've spent studying specific artists and how did they make it in the industry. How and why are people coming back to them? What is that they're doing that I'm not doing?
In the state of where we're at, how has everything been going?
Well, forcing to be home this whole entire time has definitely allowed me to make as much music as I want. It's going to be dope when I go back to the studio. With music, I think it's like baking a cake. Sometimes it can be fucking good, sometimes it might be a little poopy. But music for me, I do it every single day. I always try and start something new. And if I'm not vibing with it, I'll trash it. And if I am vibing with it, then I'll work on it for a few days and then it'll turn to a few weeks. And then by the time I've mixed this track up, I've written all the words I have, and put together all my melodies, then I'm ready to take it to the studio. And honestly, I feel like I have six or seven songs I've made during the past two months. I feel like I'm ready to go back to the studio.
Don't forget to check out Cam Avery on Instagram!